Just In Case I Die
by Kamia6
Summary: Luke writes some letters, just in case he dies. It's a good thing he did, too.
1. Just In Case

"Hey Princess, look what I found." Han called to her. The two had been cleaning out Luke's room, and they had found some pretty good blackmail material. A teddy bear had been hidden under the bed, and some model X-wings in a box in the closet. Despite this, blackmail was the last thing on Han's mind. Cleaning out your dead best friend's room is never exactly joyful.

"Is that a stack of letters? I didn't know Luke had anyone to write to." Leia said softly. Noticing Han's eyes running across a piece of paper, she scolded him. "Han, stop reading those. I'm sure they're private."

"Just looking." He was trying not to be too bothersome. Leia hadn't taken Luke's death very well, not that she was expected to. He wasn't even taking it well, Han Solo, the so-called uncaring mercenary. He was always trying to convince himself that he really wasn't surprised, pilots have the highest death rates in battle, after all. But he had never imagined that Luke Skywalker, the same kid who destroyed the Death Star, could just die, shot down by a random TIE fighter. He thought it would take at least Vader, probably the best pilot in the galaxy, to shoot him down. If he was taking it badly he could only imagine how the Princess was taking it. He was pretty good at controlling his emotions, so he was trying to make it easier on her. "Besides, I think these are for us. He held up two of the envelopes, they were clearly labeled "Han Solo" and "Leia Organa" in black ink.

"Oh, here's another one for you," Han said, rifling through the thick stack of envelopes. He held up one labeled "Leia" , then yelped in surprise. "Vader! What would the kid be writing to him for? How does he even expect us to get a letter to him? Oh, another one for me. Kid, I'm touched."

"Wait, Han, I'm confused. What are they for?" Leia asked. In silent reply, he handed her the piece of paper he had previously been reading.

_So,I was thinking, what if I die? Sure, I know everyone thinks about that at one time or another. But if I die, I'm dead. And considering I'm Luke Skywalker, jedi-in-training and pilot, my last words will probably be either "I'm hit! Kriffi-"BOOM! or "Please don't kill me, Lord Vader. I'm just a-" *coughcoughchokechokedie* Okay, okay I know this is supposed to be serious and all since, if you're reading this, I'm probably dead. But it's incredibly hard to act serious when you're writing letters about your death. Back to the point, whoever's reading this, would you please make sure that the letters attached to this note make it to the people they are addressed to? Thanks._

_-Commander Luke Skywalker_

"Oh." She responded weakly. "I guess we should deliver these."

**Hm... I've been killing Luke a lot lately...Sorry Luke! But having you die is so interesting. At least you're still sort of in this one.**


	2. I'll Miss You

_"Well, we should probably deliver these."_

"Yes, we should. I'm going to open mine first, though. What about you?" Leia asked Han.

"Um...I'll open mine...later." It wouldn't do for Leia to see him crying, it might make her more upset. And it wouldn't enforce his tough smuggler image if he started crying. There was the sound of tearing paper as Leia opened her envelope.

_Dear Leia,_

_You've been a great friend. I'll miss you when I'm dead. If the dead can miss people. I like to think that they can. So if you're ever sad that I'm dead, just remember that I'm sad that I'm dead too... Wait, I knew I should have used pencil,that didn't come out right. What I meant was, that I'll be sad that you're sad and... This isn't sounding like I wanted it to. Just remember that I will always love you, and being dead doesn't change that._

_Sincerely,_

_Luke_

It was short, and based on his messy handwriting, he had written it shortly after joining the Rebellion. It was written in pen, which didn't help with the overall neatness, but her eyes teared up all the same. She missed Luke, she really did. He had always been so strong, she hadn't ever imagined him dying. This was just another reminder that he was in fact, dead. Luke would never have let them read these letters otherwise.

"Hey, are you okay?" Han asked, then immediately winced. That had been a stupid question.

"I'm fine." She sniffed, but she didn't sound very convincing. "Just a little shaken."

"Well I hope you can help me find a way to get this to Vader," he said holding up the letter labeled "Vader". Leia stared a moment, thinking.

"We could just ask to meet, then give him the letter."

"You really think that would work?" his tone was disbelieving.

"No, but what else can we do?" she sighed.

"Nothing right now." He felt pathetic. His best friend had died, and all he wanted was to get some letters delivered, and Han couldn't even accomplish that. Briefly, he considered opening the letter. Maybe it wasn't that important. Maybe it just said something like, "Hey Vader, I'm dead. You can stop chasing me around the galaxy now. Oh, and by the way, you're a kriffin' idiot." Somehow, he couldn't imagine Luke saying anything like that. But really, what could he say that would be _that_ personal? He must have known that there was a chance whoever found his letters might read them. The kid never really thought things through, though. Han's battle with his conscience continued until he noticed the princess staring at him. He stared back, for a while.

"I need to be alone for a little while," he said, unintentionally roughly. He walked off to the Falcon to think, leaving Leia watching him move farther and farther away.


	3. My Unfortunate Demise

**Super sorry for the long wait. Look at my profile for a long, detailed explanation. If you want it. Or you can not. But updates will still probably be really slow for awhile. Like really slow.**

Han did a quick scan of the Falcon to make sure he was really, truly alone. He was pretty sure Chewie was off somewhere or other, and he had specifically told Leia to stay away, and they were generally the only ones coming through here. He figured he had a good hour before anyone came. He started reading the letter.

_Dear Han,_

_I've met my unfortunate demise. Yes, I finally finished reading that dictionary. It was quite queer, and I'm not sure if it was worth the immense amount of time I wasted. Plus, everyone keeps laughing at me for using slightly advanced words. So, if you haven't delivered the previously agreed amount of credits to me by the time you read this, you should just put them toward my funeral. Of course, I probably won't get much of a funeral, so I guess you're off the hook. Be a philanthropic person and donate them to an orphanage or something. Anyway, I'm dead, and I hope it was heroic, and not getting eaten by Jabba the Hutt's Krayt dragon or drowning in a bathtub._

_Your friend,_

_Luke_

Han reread letter over again. And again. He sighed. Luke had been such a weird kid. He had almost forgotten about the bet. It had been so long ago. Come to think of it, he hadn't paid him for reading it. He rubbed his eyes to get rid of the dust. Because, of course, those were most definitely not tears of sadness. It was just dust. Maybe he should clean. Nah, Leia would have a heart attack if he cleaned. He rubbed his eyes some more.

"Han?" A soft voice asked. Leia, of course.

"What?" Han responded rather rudely.

"I was just wondering if you were all right." She sounded offended. Well good, hadn't he asked to be alone?

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You can talk to me, you know. Luke was my friend, too." Yeah, sure. He wasn't really in the mood for a long heart-to-heart conversation. Besides, he didn't need one. Hadn't he already said he was fine?

"I know." He walked away from her.

"Where are you going?"

"To be alone."

"Han..." Stang, she was starting to make him feel bad. He turned back around.

"Look, I'm s-...uh. Look, I'm fine. Really. I promise if I need to talk I'll talk with you." No, not really, but whatever made her feel better, right? The look she gave him said she hadn't bought his lie, either. He hurried to change the subject.

"By the way, do you happen to know where the cleaning supplies are?"

"I don't think you own cleaning supplies, Han," she replied, more than a little confused.


	4. Please?

"Leia, there's a letter to Vader in here."

"I know, Han."

They were sitting at the table, looking through the stack of letters, yet again.

"Well, are we going to give it to him?"

"Of course not." Leia rolled her eyes. Han just smiled.

"So... if we're not going to give it to him, can I open it?"

"No," she said, and gave him a look. "Opening other people's letters is a crime. And impolite."

"Leia, I don't follow the rules. I like to live dangerously." She rolled her eyes again. Han tried a different tactic.

"Please? I really really really want to know what's in there."

"No."

There was a long silence, broken only by Leia filtering through the letters. She paused and set one apart from the pile.

"Please?"

"No."

Leia stared at the letter and tipped her head to the side.

"Plea-"

"Okay! Open it." Han looked at her, shocked. He had been expecting it to be a little more difficult than that.

"Really?"

"Yes. I want to know, too. It's been eating away at me," she confessed. He smirked and reached to grab the letter.

"Wait!"

"What?"

"I changed my mind. Don't open it."

He stared. "You're joking, right? I thought it was eating away at you?"

She turned her head to the side. "It is. But I have self-control, thank you."

Han sighed. He knew it had been too easy.

"Pleeeaaase?" He gave her his best puppy-dog face. She didn't notice, and he sighed.

"No."

"Please?"

"Here, open your other letter." She tossed another letter at him, but it fluttered pathetically to the ground. She picked up the one she had previously set aside and tore it open neatly. Han, the letter to Vader momentarily forgotten, was already reading his letter.

The room was filled with a rare quietness as the two read. Leia let out a short gasp, and Han's mouth was partway open.

"Leia?" he asked once he was finished. Leia, who looked to be re-reading hers, didn't look up.

"I think we're going to have to deliver that letter."


	5. Two Letters

The letter in Leia's hand was currently being gripped very tightly.

_Dear Leia,_

_Yep, you get another letter. Mostly because the other one was bad and I have something important to tell you. Ready for the important news? Wait, before I tell you, are we in complete agreement that you kissed me, that day on Hoth? Well, I hope we are, because it's kind of hard to argue in letters. And I'm also going to clarify that in my other letter to you, when I said that I'll always love you, I meant that in a completely brotherly/sisterly way. Because that's what we are, Leia. You're my sister. Isn't that great? I think it's great, and I hope you do too._

_Your big bro,_

_Luke_

_P.S. Yeah, I'm older. How do I know that? Em..the Force. Psh, no I'm not making it up._

These were a lot of words for Leia to comprehend. But no words could really describe how she felt inside right now.

_

* * *

_

The letter Han had been reading had been dropped on the floor.

_Dear Han,_

_Look, I don't know how to tell you this. I was planning on taking this to the grave, but I changed my mind. Someone needs to know. I'm getting nervous so I'm just going to write it before I chicken out. Vader's my father! There. Please don't think I lied to you or anything. I wasn't a traitor. I didn't even find out until Bespin, when he cut my arm off. Nice family reunion, huh? I don't know how you feel about this, but I figured you would take this better than Leia. Please don't tell her. She... she wouldn't be happy. To her it would mean more than Vader being my father. I want to protect her from...well, from herself. She can't see past Vader being a monster, and maybe, in a way she has a valid point. But it would destroy her, knowing, so please don't tell her. Please. Sorry I'm being kind of cryptic, I don't know how much Leia decided to tell you. I'm trusting you Han, I think you deserve it._

_-Luke_

The letter found itself being picked up, and ripped into tiny pieces. Han might pride himself on being a mercenary, but he was actually extremely loyal. Luke needn't have worried Han might tell his secret. Han wouldn't, he wouldn't tell anyone. And even though he didn't entirely understand it, he wouldn't tell Leia, either.

**This is actually a little problematic for me, because it brings into question the timeline. Luke was killed in a little skirmish thing between the Rebels and the Empire, so I originally figured that this would probably be somewhere in the time between ANH and ESB. AT least, that's what I was thinking in the beginning. But then, Luke knows about his father and sister. Which would mean it would have to be after ESB, somewhere in RotJ. But Han isn't in carbonite. (Which also means Leia hasn't told Han she loves him) So, I'm just going to say, there's a reason this is AU. Which I don't think I put in the summary, but if you haven't figured that out yet, I am deeply concerned about you. **


	6. Yeah, This Is Feeling Familiar

_I think we're going to have to deliver that letter._

"Why?" asked Leia.

"What was in your letter?" Han wondered, suspicious. Based on his letter, he guessed her's hadn't been about Vader, but she had certaintly looked surprised. How many shocking secrets could a guy have? She shrugged.

"Nothing really. Just more... stuff." Now, if that wasn't suspicious, he didn't know what was. "What was in yours?"

"Stuff." The same, vague answer. She narrowed her eyes.

"Obviously something important enough to make you want to deliver a letter to a _Sith lord_."

"Come on Leia, please. No questions asked, will you just do it? Please?"

"I've been hearing that word a lot lately," she responded frostily.

"But this time it's not for me, it's for the kid. It's for Luke." She stared at him, and he stared at her back. After a long moment, she broke her gaze away and sighed.

"Okay, I'll ask, but there's absolutely no way Mothma's going to let us fly off on some crazy mission to deliver Darth Vader a letter. No way."

He grinned at her, "Princess, I think it's time you learned the fine art of going off without telling anyone. We have the _Falcon_, we don't need Alliance permission."

"Han, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Lighten up, Your Worshipfulness. We need another adventure. Now, I'm going to go find Chewie, we're leaving immediately."

"Really bad feeling," she muttered one last time, but didn't object.

* * *

It had been a long flight. They still weren't exactly sure where they were going, but Han hadn't wanted to wait around.

"Where are we going?" Leia finally asked.

"I don't know. We're going to try to find Vader."

"Yes, this was a brilliant idea. Let's go look through all of space without a plan. We could have at least narrowed down the area he might be in."

"He's Darth Vader. He can't be that hard to find. And besides, we're in the Falcon, and I'm Han Solo, and you're Leia Organa. If that doesn't set off warning bells for the imps, I don't know what will." He grinned at his own logic.

"What's that?" Leia asked suddenly.

"Hm.. I don't know. Looks like-" Han's speculation was cut off by Chewie roaring. "You think?" He sounded excited now.

"What?" Leia asked impatiently.

"Chewie thinks it's another Death Star." Leia stared at him, shocked.

"And you're smiling why?"

"There's a huge chance he could be there!"

"You don't think we should warn somebody that there could possibly be another planet destroying weapon out there?" She yelled. Han stopped smiling. He knew this was kind of a sore subject for her.

"We can tell after. It doesn't look anywhere near done, we have time."

"You really think there's going to be an after?" He looked up. His face showed he had never thought about this possibility.

"Of course there will be... there has to be." He tried to think of a good arguement against whatever Leia came up with.

"Okay. Lets go then." He looked in her eyes and saw her trust in him. He nodded.

"Okay. I'll see if I can com-"

"Get closer." She commanded. He moved the ship closer.

"Not that close!"

"I wasn't trying to get that close," he snapped back. He struggled with the controls for awhile before giving up. "We're being pulled in," he announced, rather unnecessarily. Chewie growled again.

"Yeah, this is feeling familiar..."

**By the way, if you have some extra time on your hands, I'd appreciate if you took a look at my new story, A Different Way to End the World. It's a little... a lot different than this story, but I think it's pretty cool.**


	7. Can We Stop Reminiscing?

"Okay, can we stop reminiscing and start thinking of a plan?"

"You know I wish you would stop thinking so negatively, this is actually kind of a good thing." Han said, perfectly relaxed and acting as though this wasn't all _his_ fault.

"Oh? How so?" Leia snapped.

"Well, um, we can stop looking for Vader."

"With our luck, he's probably not even here."

"If he's not here now, he'll be here soon."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I'm Han Solo," he gave her his cocky grin.

"Somehow, that didn't come out as comforting as you meant it to be," she replied dryly.

Luck was with them, as the Dark Lord in question was in fact, onboard the station.

* * *

"My lord, we have pulled in a Rebel ship."

"How does this concern me? You know the standard procedure."

"The ship is believed to be the _Millennium Falcon,_ sir." Vader's blood froze. Once upon a time, this news would have brought him pleasure, now he felt only emptiness.

"I will interrogate the occupants myself."

"Yes, my lord."

* * *

Han and Leia were flanked by a group of storm troopers.

"How could this get any worse?"

"You could be Chewie. Who knows what they'll do to him?"

"Chewie's tough," she said. She was worried about the great fuzzball, too.

Another pair of troopers walked up. Leia stared at them a moment then blocked out their voices.

_Only you, Leia. You have to be one of the only people in the galaxy to keep getting trapped and interrogated on Death Stars. And there's only ever been two! At least they can't blow up Alderaan again._

Her thought grew darker,

_Except this time, Luke won't be here to save you._

"I'll go." Han's voice. She snapped out of her thoughts. What had just happened?

"Vader's going to interrogate him."

"Personally?"

"Personally."

She saw Han hide a smile. Somehow, he was having fun with this.

_Careful, Han. I can't lose you, too._


	8. Did You Really Stick That In Your Pants?

**Well... I suppose I have some explaining to do. It's been... four months... Um... If you really want an explanation, I'll give you one at the end. And if you've forgotten what this story is about, please kindly go back and reread the last chapter instead of exiting out of this. It would be much appreciated. I also apologize if the characters seem a little... off. I've spent the last couple months in another fandom, so they might feel slightly less Star Wars-ey and more 21st century American people-ey.**

Han walked into the room. He is a mix of terrified and excited.

Terrified because he's going into a room with Darth Vader, and excited because he's delivering a letter to Darth Vader contain top-secret things.

Basically, his head is a mess.

Luke's letter is hidden in his pants because... well, he didn't want it getting confiscated, and he knew nobody was going to be keen searching there. He briefly considered putting a blaster in there too, but he heard of some poor guy who had an accident when he did that...

He sits in a chair, his wrists shackled together to prevent his escape. He bites his lip and waits for Vader.

* * *

Vader is curious. The crew of the _Millennium Falcon _didn't fly straight into his arms on accident. This was planned. He prepared everyone for a rebel attack and went into Solo's room for an interrogation.

He walked into the room, prepared for a full-out interrogation, but when he walks into the room, Solo is sitting there grinning like an idiot. Of course, he can feel the massive amounts of fear coming off him through the Force, but something is different here.

"What do you want?" he asks. Solo's grin drops and a look of confusion comes to his face. He recovers quickly.

"I'll show you if you get these off my hands."

He is either incredibly stupid or... incredibly stupid. An escape attempt right now would be suicide, but the only other thing it is possible for him to do in this room is make shadow puppets on the walls. Vader shrugs and releases his hands. Either way, it would be the most entertainment he's had in a while. Solo sticks his hand down his pants and Vader looked away quickly, disturbed. This was _really_ not his idea of entertainment.

"What are you_ doing_?"

His question is answered when Solo hands him something that he must have been hiding. "Here, Your Grand Sithliness. Letter."

He hesitantly takes the letter from him. He reads it. He walks out of the room, signaling the stormtroopers to take Solo back to his cell.

_Dear Father,_

_Uh, this is slightly awkward, sending a letter to you, but I guess is I'm not really sending a letter to you, because if you're reading this, I'm dead. Yeah. I'm just going to hope that this is a great surprise to you, and hope that you had nothing to do with my death. Because I like to believe that even you aren't capable of killing me. Not that you're the reincarnation of evil itself or anything. I mean, I know that's obviously Palpatine, not you. I know this isn't the best letter, but I would like you to know, I am getting better at writing these. I mean, you should've seen Leia's letter. That one was pretty bad. Maybe I should rewrite that one. If you're wondering if this letter has a point, well here it is. Right here. Okay, getting to the point. This is kind of embarrassing but, well... I wish I could have grown up with you. If you weren't a dark lord of the Sith, that is. Not that I'm blaming you or anything. Actually, I kind of am blaming you but, that is not the point. I just mean that I hear you were a pretty cool guy. You were like, my idol. Until I learned that you went dark and went on a murdering rampage and all. Anyway._

_Your loving son,_

_Luke Skywalker_

**I know, I know, if I'm going ot leave you hanging, I should at least give you a longer chapter, but this is the best I can do right now. Sorry.**

**Anyway, I blame my absence on two things- School and a fandom change. As for school, it sucks. Yeah. As for fandom change, I won't be writing so much Star Wars. I think Star Wars will always be in my heart, but it's getting harder to write about. But I will definitely finish this story, I promised myself I would when I started it. And who knows? Maybe they will totally and completely screw up my new fandom this season. Well, I hope not. But the first two episodes haven't been all that amazing... And as much as I would love to give you my other account name so you can look it up and read my amazing stories *winkwink* I made another account so I could separate my work here from the work there (my other stuff is better quality and has a darker tone to it) and if I told you, that would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? So it's secret. Sorry.**

**-Kamia**


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